Somewhere In Between
by tainted_blood_chylde
Rating: PG
"This isn't happening" Faith squealed.
"Oh yes it very much is, you think they actually forgive you? That they took comfort in what you said?" he spat as he hinted towards the bedroom door. Instinctively Faith stood infront of it blocking his path.
"Leave them alone!" she snapped.
"Oh I will, but will you? You think she actually needs you? The only reason you are here is because she's ran out of options. Needs an extra morale boost for the 'P-pods'" he mocked her. Faith swallowed hard and tightened her grip on the door knob, intent on breaking it if he came any closer.
"Faith?" Buffy called before she started to get out of bed.
"And THAT! Children being led by whores, bitches, you accuse me of being evil whilst you live in sin" he said as he turned up his nose in disgust and walked right up to her. Faith's whole body tensed as he seems to walk right through her. She quickly unlocked the door and saw he was no longer there.
"I see it you know, and bit by bit it will break my patience. Then again I've tasted her, it's like a drug now, and sooner or later it will snap" Spike snapped as he charged from behind her. Faith side stepped him only to see the form disappear. "From beneath you, I devour" The First cackled as Buffy walked into the hall way to see Faith shaking.
"Faith are you okay?" Hali said quietly as she looked at the dark slayer.
"Faith, it was The First, it wasn't real" Kennedy said as she opened the door.
Buffy came up to Faith and put a hand on her shoulder.
"It only gets harder from here, it wasn't him, and I know how hard this is, but we will get through it" Buffy reassured her before hinting to everyone to get back to sleep. Faith quietly followed Buffy into bed and waited until Buffy fell asleep, she then got dressed and headed out to the Bronze.
She always figured it would be closed, but it didn't stop her stepping in and having a drink in or two anything to help her forget those words, the desire she had suddenly felt when Buffy placed her hand on her arm. She downed her last bud and then started to sob uncontrollably.
"It's time you had that changed" Kennedy told Faith when she walked into the kitchen for breakfast.
"It's already healed" she said simply and pulled off the bandage.
"So soon?" Hali exclaimed as she examined the older girl's throat.
"I'm a slayer remember?" Faith joked with her.
"I still can't believe Principal Wood got turned into a vampire" Rona said softly as she shook her head.
"It takes a lot more than that to hurt a slayer" Dawn explained proudly.
"Really?" Hali asked.
"Yeah there was this one time a huge demon almost cracked Buffy's skull open with a sledge hammer, that took WEEKS to heal" Dawn started to explain.
Faith walked over to the counter where Willow was handing out breakfast bowls.
"So what did the doctors say?" Buffy asked as she looked at Xander's eye he had injured in work when some splinters of wood got chipped from some of the machinery. This was the second attempt at blinding him they'd had that week, Caleb had almost succeeded when Buffy had intervened and beheaded him.
"Well the eye is going to heal, just need to keep cleaning it as usual" he joked as he explained for the fourth time how the young doctor has been flirting with him and put his eye patch on again.
"I mean about Shannon" Buffy said firmly, eager to hear about the young potential, losing her would only have a harder impact on the groups morale, that she couldn't deal with.
"Oh! She's going to be fine. Had a bit of internal damage but she's going to be fine" Xander said. "We can bring her home tomorrow" he smiled.
"That's great! Finally some GOOD news!" Buffy smiled back.
"Alright! Look who's back!" Rona called excitedly as she led the way for Anya and Andrew. Xander backed away out of the room when Anya entered and went to sit in the living room.
"We didn't find much, but we did find evidence that there is a definite chance that they are digging for something" Anya announced.
"Digging for what?" Buffy asked.
"That's the part we don't know, but look here, it's all on the tape" Andrew said nervously as he gave Buffy the video camera and it showed all the details of the entire layout of Caleb's base.
"You sure they didn't see you?" Giles asked sternly.
"Sure, Willow's cloaking spell really worked a treat" Anya replied.
Buffy looked at the tape and left to watch it in her bedroom alone. Sensing something was wrong with Buffy, Faith abandoned all thoughts of breakfast and went after her.
"Are you alright?" Faith asked.
"Where did you go last night?" Buffy demanded.
"What?" Faith asked.
"I woke up in the middle of the night and you were gone. Where did you go?" Buffy snapped.
"Why? Because you need to check for corpses?" Faith spat before turning to go down the stairs.
"No! Because I was worried sick!" Buffy replied angrily. Faith stopped in her tracks and turned to face Buffy, surprised by the concern in the older slayer's voice.
"I just needed to clear my head for a while" Faith answered. "The things the First told me, I just needed some time to put everything into perspective" Faith explained before closing the bedroom door.
She remained quiet for a moment and then met Buffy's gaze when she was certain she had captured the older slayer's full attention. "He appeared to me as the Deputy, told me all kinds of crazy things, tried to make me paranoid about Spike. I freaked out, I just needed to be alone" Faith told her.
"Oh God Faith, I'm sorry, I didn't realise" Buffy answered softly. "It came to me too" she confessed. Faith looked at her in surprise.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Faith asked her.
"Because I couldn't worry them. It showed up and told me how this was all my fault, the mistake of still being here. The effect it's had on the legacy. I was the cause of the disruption Faith. The world is ending.. and it's all my fault just for being here" Buffy sobbed.
"No! No! No!" Faith protested before walking over to the bed and crouching down and putting her arms around the petite blond slayer in front of her. "This is no one's fault Buffy, evil shows up all the time and we kick the shit out of it and make it go away. This doesn't have to be any different" Faith assured her.
"No you don't understand, it IS different!" Buffy told her through sobs as Faith drew back to look at her. "It's different because this time... this time I'm falling in love with you" she confessed through watering eyes as Faith stood up and backed away from her.
"You know, You gotta a lot of work to do sorting out that video and looking for clues and all, right now I gotta get out of here and go with Xander, you know, look for new P-pods and all.." Faith said as she backed away to the door.
"Faith wait! I didn't mean.. I mean we need to talk.." Buffy said as she got to her feet and started to approach Faith but halted as Faith raised her hand made a stop sign to create some distance between them.
"No! Later.. We'll talk later.. But I have to go away.." Faith said as looked at Buffy's dismayed expression, her hand clutched the door knob. "Now!" she added before turning and leaving the room. Outside in the hallway Faith pressed her head against the back of the door.
She wanted to go back in, to tell Buffy she felt the exact same way, to kiss her and hold her and force her body to remember their connection by methods of flesh and blood. She closed her eyes and willed the thoughts to go away, silently wishing that Buffy would come to the door and make that descision for her. She didn't, instead Faith heard a slight sobbing sound and she moved away from the door and retreated downstairs, this matter was better dealt with later.
Right now she just needed to put everything into perspective.
Buffy felt numb. She had just confessed everything to Faith, told her exactly how she felt. For the first time since Angel, she had openly bore her heart to someone, and yet nothing. She had made a fool of herself. Faith probably didn't even go that way. How would they be able to work with each other now? Would she leave? What would Giles think? What would Willow think? She wrapped her arms around herself and held her head and begged the questions to stop as she curled herself into the fetal position as she lay on her bed and wept.
"It's happening even now, and you're too dumb to stop it" The First/Buffy taunted Spike as he paced up and down the room.
"I'm not listening" he said simply as he hunted for the ancient text he had been highlighting that he thought Giles would find useful.
"What's the matter Spikey? Final realised you're not her type? Not on her level? 'You're beneath her'" The First/Buffy giggled.
"Shut up!" he snapped and swung at the form in front of him.
"See? This is why I could never love you, you're pathetic! I can't stand you, I need someone just like me. Someone on my level. Someone who can be my equal" The First/Buffy laughed as Spike's fist moved airily through the spector.
"Faith is my equal, my love, my desire. She's been closer to me than anyone, in my body and me in hers. How can you hope to compete with that kind of connection?" The First/Buffy said bitterly.
"Doesn't matter, I love her anyway" Spike said defiantly.
"Yes, but you don't want anyone else to have her either" The First/Drusilla mocked him. "Kissing her, holding her, smelling all the sweet hair in her sunlight head, you want her all for yourself" it spoke in Drusilla's usual childlike voice.
"I won't listen to this" Spike snapped as he grabbed the book and left the basement, he made it halfway up the stairs when the First block his path in Buffy's form.
"She's already won me" it whispered in his ear, he closed his eyes to shut out the rage and pain, when he opened them the First/Buffy was gone.
"Are you going to run out of every room everytime you see me?" Anya demanded as Xander slipped out of the living room and she followed.
"Why should I stay IN a room with you?" Xander snapped as he turned to look at her.
"Because.. because... because it doesn't feel very nice!" Anya stuttered.
"Doesn't feel nice? I'm supposed to sit in a room with my ex even though it upsets me because when I avoid her it doesn't feel nice?" Xander exclaimed.
"Well.." Anya murmured. "Well it's not very polite!"
"We're X Anya, I dont HAVE to be polite!" he snapped before lowering his voice as Buffy walked down the stairs and walked wordlessly out the door.
"So, that doesn't mean we can't be civil.. I miss civil. You don't even look at me anymore, you focus on something else. Am I THAT disgusting to you?" Anya protested.
"I can't look at you because everytime I see you, I want to take you back! I want to carry you off to some church and stay with you forever but I can't. Because you hurt me." Xander told her sternly.
"So then let me make it better, let me let you take me back. Don't just treat me like I'm an old piece of furniture you can't bare to look at anymore" she pleaded.
He looked at her, tears forming in his eyes.
"I can't Anya, I love you but I can't. Because every time I see you, all I can see is you on that table with Spike" he said finally before walking into the kitchen and closing the door.
"Try!" Anya cried. "Try just a little, let me make you forget, just stop being without me" she sobbed to herself as she sat on the stairs.
"Where's Faith?" Dawn asked as she came running down the stairs.
"Oh" Anya said as she quickly wiped her tears. "I think she went out with Andrew" Anya informed her.
"You okay?" Dawn asked softly.
"Yeah, just all those dusty books. Brings tears to your eyes" Anya said as she smiled weakly and stood up.
"Yeah, anyway, catch you later gotta find Faith" Dawn said as she smiled back and hurried into the living room.
"It's just so complicated, she has no idea exactly how much this complicates things, what it means. How much it is messing up my!" Faith rambled on as she drove the car. "I mean, how the hell am I supposed to deal with THAT kind of news?" she continued before looking at the blank-faced wide-eyed Andrew sitting in the passenger seat beside her.
"What are you talking about?" he cried. "You've been sitting there ranting away to me for the last half hour but you haven't even told me who "SHE" is or what the hell was said!" he exclaimed as they pulled up into the driveway of the small motel. He looked at her expectantly but Faith caught herself before she mentioned anything and just pulled the car to a stop.
"Sunnydale Hideaway Inn, the place where you go to get away. You'd think that she would have chosen somewhere else less obvious to hide" Faith mumbled as she got out of the car.
Andrew stood shifting his weight from one foot to the other and looked around at the area nervously, hugging himself for warmth as Faith asked the attendant at the office if there was anyone staying there fitting the description of a lost looking 15 year old girl. He seemed to be giving Faith some directions. She walked over to the car again and took another drag of her cigarette.
"Anything?" he asked nervously.
"She's here. Room B12. He's pissed because she hasn't paid yet, been waiting on her older sister to show up. Apparently she met up with another girl here, both about the same age. Looks like we got two on our hands" Faith said before dropping her cigarette and stopping on it. "Come on, let's go" she said before walking towards the appartment block.
"You sure this is a good idea?" he said, Faith just gave him an annoyed look and continued walking. They approached the door when all of a sudden it burst open and a short robed figure was hurled through. He collided with Andrew and Faith quickly grabbed him before he fell off the ledge. She then darted into the room to see a short black haired girl taking on a group of six bringers. One of them left the brawl and lunged at Faith, she quickly snapped his neck and started to trail one of the others back before punching him.
She was about to yell at the young potential to get out of the room but then noticed the way she was fighting and the rythmn of her movements. The girl made quick work of killing the remaining bringers and turned quickly in a fighting stance to defend herself against Faith.
"Wow!" Faith said as she looked at the dagger in the girl's hands. "Take it easy, it's alright I'm a friend" she added and the girl relaxed and wiped the blood from her lip before throwing the blade into the bag she was carrying. She looked older than the other potentials, she looked like she was about 18.
"Is it safe?" a voice called from the bathroom.
"Yeah, you two can come on out now" the dark haired girl said as she lifted a sword the other bringer at her feet had been carrying.
"Two?" Faith asked as she raised her eye brows in confusion.
Then two young girls at 15 years of age emerged looking frightened and scared from the bathroom. Faith looked at the other girl and opened her mouth in question.
"I'm Catherine, the vampire slayer" she said as she stood up and squared her shoulders as she looked at the older girl. Faith opened her mouth in shock.
Faith stepped forward towards the young girl, a frown set deep in her face. "What do mean, vampire slayer?" she demanded.
"Exactly what I just said. I'm The Slayer" Catherine replied.
"Who are you?" one of the girls behind her said.
"I'm Faith" she said off-handedly. "How did you know to come here?" she added her eyes never leaving the girl's face.
"I saw the news, recognised a lot of the names. Most of the deaths seemed to be getting nearer and nearer to here, so I tracked down a few of the other girls and brought them with me. Word was there used to be a slayer around these parts. I figured they were going to get her help" she explained casually.
"Well you were wrong. There are already two slayers in this town" Faith told her through gritted teeth.
"No, I think you Potentials, there is only ONE slayer" Catherine corrected her.
"No I think you're mistaken" Faith said firmly. "I'm the Slayer."
Catherine looked at her, her cool blue eyes hardened.
"Good, then maybe you can tell me what the hell is going on here" she replied.
"Someone is killing your kind" Andrew said as he thrust his hand forward to say hello and shake hers. She looked at it and then back at him as he nervously pulled it back. "We already have a lot of them back at Buffy's house" he told her.
"Who?" the third girl said.
"The other slayer" Faith said calmly. "We have to get out of here. When the others don't return they will send more to find you."
The other girls looked at Catherine for instructions. "Go with them. You have my number, you get in trouble or need help call me and I'll be there as soon as I can with the others" she told them as she picked up her bag.
"What are you supposed to do?" Faith asked her.
"I've been picking up girls from Ireland, Europe, China all the way through Canada and down here. I didn't want to bring them with me, but I did leave them somewhere safe" she said as she walked towards the door and looked back at Faith. "It's time I picked them up" she added before walking out the door and going down the stairs. Faith looked at the other two girls standing looking at her nervously.
"Well you heard her, get your stuff lets go!" she snapped before walking outside and lighting up another cigarette. Giles was going to love this one.
"No wonder we haven't been able to find any, she's been snatching them up and bringing them here" Willow exclaimed.
"Well it does seem very strange that this one girl has collected over forty potentials on her way across the atlantic without atracting SOME kind of attention" Anya said quietly.
"Indeed" Giles said as he took off his glasses and wiped them clean and put them back on again. "Well I should say that we need to find this girl and question her."
"Is anyone else thinking halleighlullya?" Xander smiled. "Well come on guys don't you get what this means? We have THREE slayers, an army of potentials and a witch that can burn the earth to a crisp. We might actually win this thing." He declared.
"We don't even know if she is a slayer" Faith mumbled.
"You think she's lying?" Dawn asked Faith.
"I just think she's a potential who thinks too highly of herself" Faith replied.
"But you said she transed those Bringers no problem" Rona answered.
"Yeah but she was totally sloppy. Even if she is a Slayer, she's totally untrained" Faith reasoned.
"Well I'm sure the feelings mutual" Catherine said as she walked into the living room with an army of Potentials behind her.
Giles stood up and looked at her in surprise. The other Potentials already in the room looked in awe at the other girls.
"Catherine Blake, reporting for duty" she said as she looked at Giles and bowed her head respectfully.
"Well.. this is excellent, I am sure Buffy will be most pleased." He smiled.
"You take orders from your slayer?" Catherine said in disgust.
"Well no, but she is the eldest, she's been at this gig longer than anyone" Faith snapped.
"Since when does that have anything to with it?" Catherine snapped back. Giles and the others in the room looked at each other tensely as the two slayers squared up.
"I think it's time to see exactly how much of a slayer you are" Faith challenged her.
"Is that a challenge?" she laughed.
"Why would it be anything else?" Faith said sternly as she watched the playful smile leave Catherine's face.
"You're on" she said as she dropped her bag on the floor.
"Wait! What's going on?" Giles said as both girls left the living room and walked into the garden.
"Boy ain't that gonna be a beautiful friendship" Xander muttered.
The Potentials all rushed out to the back of the house and gathered in a circle around the two older girls as they pulled off their jackets and circled each other. Faith was the first one to let off an impressive display of combos and jabs at the smaller girl. She dodged everyone of them. Faith growled below her breath in frustration and swung at her again. This time she connected with the girl's face and was rewarded with a swift blow to the chest which forced her to bend forwards and gave Catherine a chance to knee her in the head.
Faith kicked at her and blocked a punch. About twenty minutes had gone by and both girls ignored Giles' plea to stop. Each blow got harder and more violent, the potentials began to look on in horror as each blow began to draw more and more blood. Dawn looked on in dismay as the girls let off their next impressive display of attacking and defending. Faith could feel herself begin to sweat, how long had they been going on like this? She hadn't even noticed the sun shifting behind the house and towards its setting.
She had no idea Catherine would be this good, each blow matched her own, each breath was in sync with hers. Nothing she could do would give her the upper hand. Neither of them were winning and she didn't think either of them wanted to. This had begun as a challenge, now it was more about the dance. The fight, how both their bodies were used as tools to inflict as much force on the other as they desired. It made her blood feel like it was on fire. She felt connected, she didn't want it to stop, she wanted to keep going until her legs hurt and her knuckles bled.
It was sun down by the time Buffy got home, no luck with the Potentials at her latest leds. She wondered how Faith had gotten on. Where was she? What she say when she saw her?
Buffy walked into the house and then followed the trail of voices into the garden to see Faith sparring off with some other, very attractive girl.
She looked at Faith when pain in her eyes and Faith stopped dead in her movements. It felt like having cold water poured all over her body when she was sun bathing. How long had Buffy been there? What was she thinking? Where had she been all day? Faith thought as she put up her hand to indicate to Catherine that there would be no more fighting.
Catherine shook herself off and stretched a little.
"Well Well Well" she said casually "Looks like I finally get to meet number three" she said before walking up to behind Faith and smiling cheekily. "I'm Catherine." she said as Buffy frowned and blinked, trying to take in what exactly was happening.
"Buffy! Wait!" Faith called as Buffy stormed back into the house and started charging up the stairs.
"Who the hell is THAT?" Buffy demanded as they got to her room.
"That's Catherine, all those girls outside? She brought them here. She's another Slayer, that's all" Faith told her. Buffy continued to stare angrily at Faith, she could practically tasted the jealousy coming from the older girl in her mouth.
"Then what was all that about?" She demanded.
"Training, I wanted to see exactly how good she was before we even thought about taking her help" Faith said as she held the ice pack in her hand to her chin.
"Training? You never train like that with me. The only time I remember fighting like that with you was when I was with you on that roof top" Buffy grumbled to herself bitterly.
"That's because you.. I hold back whenever I fight you. We both hold back" Faith said gently.
"Why do you hold back Faith?" Buffy said brokenly.
"Because.. you never give me the go ahead. You're so guarded all the time that a fight like that could never satisfy you. You wouldn't let it" Faith said quietly. "That and the last time we fought like that I landed in a coma" she added playfully.
Buffy didn't smile.
"Oh come on B! What do you want from me?" Faith demanded.
"I want all of you!" Buffy spat back, Faith flinched.
"I thought we weren't going to talk about that" Faith said nervously.
"Well we HAVE to talk about it Faith" Buffy declared. "I love you, I don't know why, part of my really wishes I didn't but there it is. I love you." Faith swallowed hard.
"You don't know what you are inviting" Faith warned her.
"Oh yeah? Then what am I inviting?" Buffy teased and with that Faith grabbed Buffy by the back of the neck and pulled her close and kissed her passionately. It was rough at first and Buffy nearly pulled away from shock but Faith held her tightly. Then it got slower and deepened until both girls were sighing heavily and slightly pulling at each others clothes, desperate to be closer to what lay underneath.
"Tell me you love me" Buffy moaned softly as Faith kissed her neck and licked at the three scars on her neck. Vampire kisses, Faith thought to herself, she closed her eyes and scolded herself. She swore she wouldn't do this. That she would take her time, she wanted to savour the taste, savour the moment. Make it tender, but it was too late. She had sampled her drug, and she needed a fix. She pushed Buffy closer to the bed and kissed her even harder. She used her leg to swing the door closed and backed away from their kisses and locked it. Never taking her eyes off the older slayer.
"God I hope I'm doing the right thing" Faith whispered below her breath, and if it weren't for her supernatural hearing Buffy would never have heard her. She looked curiously at the younger girl as she sat on the edge of the bed. Buffy watched in awe as Faith removed her jacket and brought her hands to her blouse and undid the buttons slowly. Her fingers were noticably trembling Buffy left the bed and went to her, she placed her hands on Faith's hands and calming her, Faith looked in her eyes and Buffy saw how vunerable she looked. She kissed Faith softly on the nose.
"You don't have to do this" Buffy said softly. Faith closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against Buffy's for extra support.
"I want to." She stepped away from Buffy and revealed her naked torso. Buffys eyes widened and she looked almost hungrily at the sight before her, it had been so long since she'd had anyone like this, since she'd wanted this. Faith kissed Buffy and edged them over to the bed, she lay Buffy down on her back and started to undress her. "I do love you Buffy, and I'm going to prove it to you" she said softly as she slipped her hand into Buffy's lacy white underwear and let her feel the first few sensations of what was to come.
"Oh God!" Buffy responded as she pressed her mouth against Faith's to muffle the sound.
Faith's Journal
Everyone else is out right now, you probably don't even know that. You're asleep. Did you know that you snore slightly? Not bad snoring, more like a gentle purr, I'm not complaining, I like it. It's soothing. I can't believe we actually did this. I can't believe you're laying here beside me. I've dreamed about this for so long. Even your hair smells like heaven. There's been so much darkness in my life, been going from one cheap thrill to the other, trying to find something.. mine.
I finally found something that's real. Something that's light, so even if you don't want to do this again, if you regret it and you kick me out of your bed forever and hate me for it. I just want to thank you for right now. For this moment, for letting me make love to you, for letting me watch you laying there asleep and safe. I meant what I said B, I love you. I love you so much and right now it feels like I'm going insane. Because if this is it, if this is the end and the First beats us.. I got no worries, I'm already in heaven.
Love Faith.
Faith turned on the radio and hummmed to the song playing as she got dressed.
"I hold your picture in my hollow eyes It's blurred, it's broken, But it's yours. . . I hold your tears in my empty palms They are wet, they are many, but they are yours. . . I hold your memories in my disillusioned mind They are cruel, they are harsh, but they are yours. . . I hold your soul in my cursed body It's stained, it's sinned, but it's yours. . . I hold your cries in my mourning voice They are agonizing, they are haunting, but they are yours. . . I hold your love in my broken heart It's over, it's gone, but it's yours. . . I hold your dreams in my dead eyes They are broken, they are wrecked, but they are yours. . . It's the end of it all It's the end of you, end of me. . But it's our detiny."
Faith gently closed the door, being extra careful not to wake Buffy. She sighed relief as she listened and was sure that Buffy was still asleep. She smiled slightly as she turned and headed towards the stairs.
"Working hard?" a voice questioned. Faith spun around to see Spike standing in the hallway coming out of Willow's bedroom.
"What are you still doing here?" Faith stuttered.
"Well, you see the new little slayer wanted to over see Giles' training methods of the Potentials so he took them all out on a trip to some place to do a bit of slaying. Now seeing as I'm not one to want to get in the way of a new slayer, I volunteered to stay here and look up some more on the big bad" Spike said as he held up and shook the book in his hand for her to see.
He moved closer to her and nearly fainted with the scent of Buffy on her. "Now the question is, What are you still doing here?" he retorted.
"Buffy wanted me to watch that video with her, and to try some meditation exercises. It kind of tired her out, so I thought I'd take off and do some patrolling. Maybe sneak by the Vineyard, see how plausible it is to launch an assault" she replied swiftly.
"Is that so?" he smirked.
"Why would it be anything else?" she said innocently.
"Yeah, why would it be anything else?" he said knowingly before dropping his gaze and shifting the book to his other hand. "Well I suppose you'd better be off then. Do some recon and all that" he said as he changed the subject and stepped past her and went downstairs. Faith blinked a few times before she ran down and pulled her jacket on and left the house.
Faith made easy work of scaling the ten foot wall and landed silently on the other side. She looked cautiously around her, not a bringer in sight. She didn't really have to worry about vampires being out here at this time of night, they usually stayed closer to town. More people and easier to get to shelter Gale had always taught her. Still, she kept her stake pretty close to her chest, there were a lot of things that a good old staking could fix. She walked quietly through the vines and became vaguely aware of something being in there with her.
She slowed her movements, just slightly, every muscle poised and ready for the fight about to come. Her ears perked up and listened for any oncoming menaces, twelve paces, nine paces, four paces. She turned and sent a blow connecting directly with her stalkers faces. Seconds later Faith realised it wasn't a threat.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Catherine demanded as she rubbed her jaw.
"I.. what were doing following me?" Faith retorted.
"I wasn't following you, Mr Giles said this was the enemy strong hold. That they were digging for something, so like any good slayer I used my own initiative and came out here to find out what" she said simply.
"And the sneaking up behind me like that?" Faith demanded.
"I was looking for a way in when I saw you scaling that wall, it was a little too high for me but I managed it. Saw you walking and figured there was safety in numbers" she replied cheekily. "Not that we really have to worry about you, anything comes behind you that right hook of yours is gonna leave `em regretting it."
"So what happens now?" Faith questioned. "This was supposed to be a one slayer deal, I can't be babysitting you."
"I don't need anyone to babysit me!" Catherine snapped. "I can hold my own in a fight as you well know."
"Yeah, I suppose you can" Faith said as she remembered their fight. The heat began to bubble up in her veins, she remembered the addiction she felt, the wanting, the lust. She tore her gaze from the younger girl's eyes and started to continue her walk down through the vineyard.
"So how long you been a Slayer anyway?" Faith asked her.
"Two years, my watcher was killed and two hours later I was dragged to London and told I was now the slayer. There wasn't much said, just assigned to various watchers and told where to go. I was basically sent where I was needed" Catherine replied simply.
"Two years? That means, you're my replacement" Faith said as she stopped and turned to her.
"That's not possible" Faith protested.
"Oh believe me it is, they have methods of killing you even if they don't want to go up against you. With Slayers it's hard to use magick against us from a far because of what we are, certain entities want to keep us around. But there are certain ways they can trick you, make your heart skip a beat or two. Marianne, my watcher before I was called, she told me they sometimes tried to make two slayers by stopping their hearts, they did it in dreams, tried to scare them. Sometimes it scared them to death, I'm only guessing but, they might have tried it with you" Catherine explained as she continued to walk along the road.
"Then how did they know that it worked?" Faith asked her.
"I don't know. Maybe they figured you were already dead, I'm not sure. They got me, that's what they wanted. Maybe they didn't even know that you were still around" Catherine said simply.
"Why would they do that?" Faith said.
"Think of all the times that a Slayer must have ended up in the wrong place, trapped and held prisoner or something. If they didn't hear back from them, they must have devised ways or activating the next Slayer. From what the others told me, you were in jail, maybe they thought it was worth saraficing you for the greater good. Hell knows they've sacraficed better slayers for less" Catherine said as she walked quickly through the vineyard.
Faith took a second to turn it over in her mind and followed the younger girl. Each too preoccupied in their own thoughts to even realise that there was someone else following them.
Buffy woke late, how long had she been asleep? She moved slightly and realised that she couldn't go any further. Disgruntled she pulled at the thing latched around her arms, What the hell was going on? She looked around to see she was chained to her basement wall, where Spike used to be kept. Buffy shivered in fear, Who had done this to her? Where was Faith? Had she turned on them again? Were the Bringers torturing the others? What the hell was happening?
She tugged further on the chains, but it was useless, the gag in her mouth muffled out all her cries for help. No one came into the basement, how would they find her?
Buffy heard the front door open, she screamed slightly but it was useless, there was no way anyone would hear her. Straining her hearing a little more she heard the voices as each of the Potentials entered the living room.
"Well, that trip was eventful" Dawn piped chirpily as she walked into the room.
"Yes, quite interesting" Giles agreed.
"Hey Guys" Buffy heard an all too familar voice announce.
"How was the trip?" The First/Buffy asked them as they walked into the dining room.
"What's going on?" Faith asked as she looked around the room and saw nothing but a pile of dead Bringers. Catherine landed square beside her and threw a puzzled at the older slayer.
"I don't know" she confessed as she kicked the dead arm of one laying on the floor beside someone.
"I don't like this, something isn't right, something did this to them and it certainly wasn't us, we need to get back to Buffy. The others need to know about this" Faith instructed her as she lifted an ancient looking text from the large table.
"I thought we were supposed to be looking for clues" Catherine said questioningly.
"There's no time, the objectives have changed, Giles will be able to do something with this. We should check the tunnels, see if there is anything they haven't found yet. Or look for evidence of what they let out that caused all.. this" Faith said as she looked around the room at the carniage.
"Didn't know you could think ahead like that, I usually just get in there, assess the damage and get gone" Catherine complimented her.
"Try working with B and the Scoobys, it's hard not to pick it up" Faith smiled as she handed her the book. "No matter how good you think you are, there's always something left you gotta learn."
Catherine took the book and examined the cover, she flicked it open and looked in the pages slightly. She looked beyond Faith at a pile of rubble, it looked fresh. "Was it like this on the video tape?" she asked Faith as she walked closer to the mound of stones.
"I don't think so" Faith said as she recalled an alter at this end of the room.
"Something broke through here" Catherine concluded.
"Do you hear that?" Faith asked in a quick whisper.
Sure enough, as soon as Catherine strained her ears to listen for the sound Faith was asking for it sounded again. Both girls looked towards the door, where three uber-vamps were waiting. Faith pulled her sword from its sheith and Catherine gulped as she fell into line with Faith.
"It's not as if the power of the dreams cannot be restored, it's more of a question of whether or not it is needed" Giles argued.
"But still, three fully trained, ubered up slayers is exactly what we need against the first" Rona said plainly.
"I don't really like the thought of being ubered up. Giles is right, it's not needed. We have three slayers now, and tapping into the source of such great power. I just don't think we should be doing that. What if we ruin the slayer legacy forever?" The First/Buffy argued with her.
"If the right research was done, maybe.." Willow began.
"Maybe nothing, she's made up her mind. I think you guys are in enough trouble making fool-hardy descisions without ruining the only thing you've got going for you" Spike dismissed her.
"Still.." Willow protested but silenced herself as Buffy shot her a look that made it clear that there would be no more discussion on the subject.
"I think it's foolish to abandon the idea entirely" Anya protested anyway.
"I agree, there should be at least some research into the possibility" Kennedy said also.
"Indeed, but all in due time" Giles said as he lifted the book he had been studying from.
Buffy left the room and Willow followed her.
"Hey, look Buffy, I know after last year you don't like me playing with magick. But I think this may be our best shot" Willow pleaded with her.
"You're right Willow, I don't trust you with magick, but it's my choice. I won't let you kill everyone if you lose control again. I'd rather risk forming an alliance with Angelus and the Master than put you in that position. May sound harsh, but we're at war and that's just the way it's got to be" Buffy/The First said snappily before walking up the stairs and leaving Willow near tears at the bottom staring mutely at her.
"Bet you're wondering why I'm doing this" Kennedy said quietly. "It's simple, I love Willow. But I can never have her fully until I remove her one temptation, the one thing she would leave me for.. you." She said as she injected the syrim into Buffy's arm, the slayer winced in pain as the fluid burned in her veins. "I really wanted to like you, to follow your orders like a good little potential. But I'm not just a Potential, I'm the next Slayer" Kennedy smirked as she pulled out a knife.
"This little knife here draws the power from a vessel and imbeds it into the person who inflicted it. It's centuries old, and it's exactly what I'm going to use to make myself the Slayer, we need a REAL leader, not some old worn out thing like you that's past her prime and when I'm done with you, I'm moving onto Faith and Catherine, although I was thinking it would be more fun to see how things played out between those two don't you think?" Kennedy said quietly before she buried the blade in Buffy's side and the older girl screamed in vain into the gag.
...continued in part 21...